Cambridge car park the latest multi-storey to get the LED lighting treatment

Cambridge County Council is the latest organisation to join the ranks of green local assemblies, with the news that a thriving car park in the city centre has been converted to LED lighting.

As part of its long-term commitment to making Cambridge a more sustainable city, the council recruited Manchester-based MHA lighting to replace the 220 halophane light fittings in the Grand Arcade Annex car park with 220 45-watt LB 36 fixtures instead.

And as a result, expected energy savings and carbon emissions could total some 75 per cent on the average annual consumption.

Parking services operations manager Sean Cleary praised the new LED bulbs and stressed the importance of bright, clean illumination in the underground car park.

"The Grand Arcade town centre car park is one of the city's busiest car parks, so high levels of light and light uniformity are crucial to ensure customers feel safe and secure," he said.

"The quality of light provided not only improves safety and security throughout, but also reduces the volume of shadows in the car park," he continued. "The new lighting is more like being in natural daylight, which is much more pleasant for our car park users."

And Cambridge isn't the only city pledging to go green, as Wigan County Council proved earlier this year. They, too, focused on a car park overhaul - such commercial buildings are ever-reliant on light, and a 75 per cent emission saving and long-life bulb soon pays for itself when a light is on for 24 hours a day .

As a result, the city's Water Street Multi Storey saw a system installed that uses 45 per cent less energy than before, with a savvy combination of energy-efficient lighting as well as lighting management hardware to turn off fixtures when not in use.